


Some of That Life

by Fitzfire



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-07
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-27 22:28:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18748363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fitzfire/pseuds/Fitzfire
Summary: Wherein Tony survives, then he and Steve go put back the Infinity Stones together.





	1. Forward

 “There were about a billion of them and my spider legs couldn’t poke all the monsters, but then Thor’s, I mean I guess Captain America’s, yours, anyway, your hammer…”

The kid was running a mile a minute, pacing up and down the hospital waiting room. When Steve had asked him to recount his side of the story, he hadn’t been expecting a blow by blow of the entire battle. Maybe he should have. There was a difference between the report of a distraught fifteen-year-old and the briefing of a trained soldier. Steve would have to wait this one out, no matter how tired he was of waiting.

“…then there was that huge explosion! I knew it had to have been the gauntlet, which was what we were one hundred percent trying to keep away from Thanos, so I rushed over there only to see-“ Parker broke off then, sucking in a huge breath of air. “I saw-“

“It’s alright,” Steve said. He stood up and came to Parker’s side, laying a hand on his shoulder.

“With all due respect, sir,” Parker said, “it’s really not.”

No, it wasn’t, but Steve couldn’t say as much. Steve glanced away and met gazes with Rhodes. They were both soldiers. They’d dealt with the death of the men they’d served with. Parker hadn’t. The two had to be strong for him.

Rhodes rose, using the tech Tony-

Tony.

“Dr. Strange is overseeing the surgery, and he called in some of the top surgeons in the world for this case,” Rhodes said.

Parker nodded slowly at first then faster as he took a deep breath. “Will he be okay?” he asked, looking up into Steve’s eyes.

Steve didn’t have an answer for him, but he had to come up with something. He didn’t want to give the kid false hope, but those young eyes were begging for something to latch onto. Parker needed reassurance, and it fell to Steve to give it to him.

“Let’s sit down,” Steve said, motioning for a chair. Parker immediately fell into it but came back up to the edge of his seat as soon as Steve sunk into the one next to him. Steve winced. The battled hadn’t been kind to him and settling down only jostled the bruises, cuts, and fractures Thanos had given him. He’d refused medical attention thus far in favor of sitting in this waiting room.

“Do you know why Tony used to have the blue core in his chest?”

“In his chest?” Parker asked.

Damn, he’d forgotten how young the kid was. “Yes, it was in his chest.”

“Like, the Iron Man suit powered his entire body? Like a second heart?”

“Something like that,” Rhodes said.

Parker’s eyes bugged out. “That’s _cool._ But why?”

“Tony got in an accident,” Rhodes explained. “A shell exploded near him and a whole lot of shrapnel got lodged in his chest. The core kept the shrapnel from entering his heart.”

“You’ve never heard this story?” Steve asked.

“No!” Parker said.

“Tony didn’t exactly broadcast it to the world,” Rhodes said. Steve supposed that made sense.

“Tony is a survivor,” Steve said. “He’s been in a lot of tough spots before.”

“This might be his toughest spot yet,” Rhodes said.

Silence.

“One question,” Parker said, raising a hand almost as if they were in a school classroom.

“What is it?” Steve asked.

“What is Dr. Strange’s real name?”

 

 

 

Rhodes disappeared ten minutes later to meet with Pepper, Happy, and Morgan. He invited Steve to come with him, but Steve didn’t think it was his place. Besides, someone had to stay with the kid.

Tony was in surgery right that very moment.

It’d been hours. Hours and hours without any news. In these situations, Steve knew no news was good news, but that didn’t make it any less torturous. Parker kept pacing up and down the way. Steve’s heart was right there with him, but he had to remain calm, if only for the kid.

 

 

 

When Rhodes came back, it was with Pepper and Happy. Morgan was off at the babysitter's. Steve could understand Pepper not wanting her daughter to see Tony in such condition. If Tony died, the image Morgan would have of him would be one healthy and happy instead of crippled and scarred by the infinity stones. Steve could understand even if he didn’t agree.

No news was good news. He had to keep reminding himself of that.

Hours passed. Was Tony still in surgery? Then again, there must be a whole hell of a lot to repair. Steve trusted that Strange knew what he was doing, of course, but putting his friend’s life in the hands of someone he’d never even met was eating at him.

No news was good news. He had to keep reminding himself of that.

 

 

 

When Strange came into the waiting area, his face was grim. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and came toward them. Pepper and Happy shot up out of their chairs, but Parker beat them to it. The kid stumbled forward.

“Mr. Stark?” he asked

Steve held his breath.

“Stable,” Strange said.

If Steve hadn’t been sitting down, his legs would have given out from under him. As it was, he sagged with relief. So much for that super soldier strength.

“Can we see him?” Pepper asked.

Strange nodded.

Rhodes rose to his feet, but Steve still couldn’t get his feet under him. Strange turned and gestured for them to follow. They all started walking toward the open door.

Steve didn’t follow.

“Hey, Steve?” Rhodes said.

“Steve?” came Pepper.

“Rogers?” Happy asked.

“Mr. Captain America?”

Steve closed his eyes and let out a shuttering breath. “Thank goodness.”


	2. Chapter 2

“How are you feeling?” Steve asked, lowering himself into a chair.

Across from him, Tony still lay in a hospital bed. It was hard to believe how charred the right side of his body had been only weeks before. Skin graphs had really come a long way, especially using the alien tech Rocket had provided for them. Still, Tony lay, pallor white as a sheet, more the most part immobile thanks to damage done to his muscular and nervous systems which would, in some capacity, have to heal on their own terms. The doctors said they would eventually heal to a point, but he’d never make a full recovery. Such was the price of the infinity gauntlet.

“Like shit,” Tony finally got out. His mouth moved sluggishly as his tongue look just slightly to big for his mouth. The right side of his face was limp for the most part, but the left side made up in expressiveness. He was able to roll his eyes on both sides then. At least there was that.

“You don’t look so good either,” Steve said, trying for some small joke.

Tony tried to chuckle, but the action sent him into a fit of coughing. The stones hadn’t been kind to his lungs either.

“How’s Morgan?” Tony asked. It was the same question he asked every time Steve visited. Steve suspected it was the question Tony asked every time anyone visited.

“You saw her yesterday,” Steve said.

Tony shook his head slightly, brushing off Steve’s words. “If you don’t know, then get out.”

“She’s fine,” Steve said.

Tony relaxed and then smiled a little with the corner of his left lip. “Good,” he said. “How about the rest of the team? Nobody tells me anything. They say focus on getting better.”

“It’s good advice.”

“God to hell.”

Steve sighed, leaning back in his chair. “Thor’s gone.”

“Back to Norway?”

“Back to space,” Steve said.

Tony blinked. “Alone?”

“With the Guardians.”

“Ah,” Tony said. “Makes more sense why he was trying to say goodbye last time he came.”

“Did he?”

“I thought he was convinced I would die any second.” Tony took a shallow breath, the only kind of breath he could take these days. “I brushed him off.”

“I’m sure there are no hard feelings.”

“Is Danvers gone too?”

Steve shook his head. “She’s still on earth.”

“Really? Huh. Would have thought she’d be off as soon as everything was settled.”

“Not everything is settled.”

Tony slowly turned his head toward Steve. “Nobody’s said anything to me about it.”

Steve grimaced. There was a reason for that. “We have to decide what to do with the infinity stones.”

“That should be obvious,” Tony said, but Steve didn’t think it was. Not to Tony anyway.

 

 

 

Two days later, the rest of the team decided it was time they decided exactly what they’d do with the infinity stones. Steve, Danvers, Bruce, and Strange arrived at the Stark mansion together, ready for a fight. The three men thought they had the best chance of convincing Tony what needed to be done, and Danvers had insisted on coming along as well. They’d enact their plan with or without Tony’s approval, but going behind their teammate and, for Bruce and Steve, close friend’s back was not an option. So, there they were.

They filed in and met with Pepper. Her eyes slid from one to the others, uneasy.

“Don’t distress him,” she warned.

“We’ll do our best,” Steve assured her, but Strange and Bruce exchanged glances. The four weren’t sure it was possible for this meeting not to anger Tony, but what could they do? The meeting had to take place, and Steve agreed with Danvers when she said it must be sooner rather than later.

“I’m sure Stark will understand what the right course of action will be,” Danvers said to Pepper. Steve and Bruce weren’t so sure. Pepper didn’t seem to be either, but she let the four pass.

It was two days since Steve had seen Tony, and he didn’t look much better. This time, at least, he was propped up on some pillows. Staring out the window, he didn’t acknowledge the four as they walked into his bedroom, not at first at least.

“Should I be worried?” Tony asked.

“We have something to discuss with you,” Strange said.

“Is this about the infinity stones?” Tony said.

“How did you know?” Bruce asked.

“I told him,” Steve said.

“You four must have some ridiculous plan cooked up, but the answer is crystal clear,” Tony said. “We have to keep-“

“We have to send them back to their original realities,” Bruce said.

Tony’s head shot to the side, eyes wide. “Are you serious?”

“Yes,” Danvers said with authority.

Tony’s eyes switched from Danvers to Bruce to Strange until finally falling on Steve. “You can’t be serious,” he said.

“Tony-“ Steve tried to say, but Tony interrupted him.

“I know you aren’t serious because even you, Steve, can’t be stupid enough to leave us defenseless against the entire universe,” he exclaimed. He tried to yank himself out of the bed, but only sent himself gasping, his left hand shooting up to his chest. Steve stepped forward, but Tony waved him off.

“Don’t,” he said.

Steve stilled.

“We’ve faced Thanos from another reality, he almost killed us all,” Strange said. “Without the stones, the reality we took them from won’t be able to defeat Thanos. Then what’s to keep that Thanos from invading our reality.”

Tony chewed on that for a moment but didn’t lay back down on the bed.

Steve stepped forward, locking eyes with Tony. “You told me that the reason we fought was to end the fight. You created Ultron and Vision for that. Tony, the fight is over.”

“Is it?” Tony asked, voice strong, but there was also a note of vulnerability in his voice. He wasn’t sure.

“Yes,” Steve said definitively. “But for them, it’s not.”

“We have to give the stones back,” Bruce said.

“I agree,” Strange said. “I speak for the time stone at least, but I fear that if even one of them isn’t returned, then it will throw that reality into chaos.”

“Thanos destroyed the stones in this reality,” Tony said. “According to your logic, that means we’re in pretty deep shit too.”

Strange didn’t answer.

“What happens when the next big bad comes along?”

“We don’t know that will happen,” Steve said.

“You of all people should know there's a good chance,” Tony said. “You worked to defeat Germany only for Hydra to rise in the shadows.”

“So then wait,” Bruce said.

“Wait?” Tony snapped.

But Bruce continued “Now that Thanos is out of the picture, whatever cosmic threat Tony is afraid of might be tempted to act. If so, we’ll have the stone to defeat them. We’ll wait for it, and if nothing or no one appears in, say, three months, we return the stones.”

“We won’t wait,” Danvers said. “If a threat like that exists, I’ll find it.”

“And we’ll reach out to Thor and the Guardians to keep their eyes out too,” Steve said. “We can even send our own expeditions out to cover more ground.”

“Three months isn’t enough,” Tony said. “How long did it take for Thanos to finally show his face.”

“A year,” Steve bargained, still holding Tony’s gaze.

“The length of time is of little consequence,” Strange said, “but we must be young enough to be still fit to fight our way through whatever fate throws at us.”

“How many years?” Steve asked.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first entrance into the Stony fandom, so if someone has done this before, I'm really sorry. I just got finished watching Avengers Endgame and this plot bunny won't leave me alone. I hope you like it!
> 
> Chapters will get longer, I just wanted to get out HEY EVERYONE TONY IS OKAY(ISH) part out for the fandom's sake.


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